A brand new console has been added to the Nintendo Switch family, the Nintendo Switch Lite. The Lite is the latest addition to Nintendo's flagship console range, and bring a very heavy focus on portability to the system, with reduced weight, cheaper cost, and a compact size. The system will be made available in 3 different colors when it launched, yellow, grey and turquoise, and does away with features such as the removable controllers and the kickstand, in favor of a reduce selling cost and a focus on handheld gaming exclusively.

The system was revealed in a video posted by Nintendo themselves, hosted by Yoshiaki Koizumi the general producer for the Nintendo Switch. The video in question shows the Lite being used in conjunction with the original model Switch's while out and about, showing that multiplayer will still be available across the board in a variety of ways. As well as the video, Nintendo released a page which shows the differences between the two versions of the console.

The easiest change to notice is probably the size, which has been considerably decreased to make the Nintendo Switch Lite even more portable than its predecessor. Obviously, that size reduction does come at the cost of reduced screen size for the console as well and according to The Verge you can no longer change the brightness for some reason, although the screen is still 720p. The battery life has been upgraded slightly as well, running between 3 - 7 hours compared to the original machine's 2.5-6.5, with Nintendo noting an increase of an hour in how long you can play Breath of the Wild (from 3 to 4 hours). While the battery life increase is anything but dramatic, it is a nice touch considering the focus on portability and handheld exclusive play. You will also apparently be able to connect an external wireless controller to the Lite, for games which do not support handheld mode but do tabletop mode.

Games that won't work without those additional controllers include Super Mario Party, 1-2 Switch, and Nintendo Labo. The loss of the removable Joy-Cons, which also has a removal of the IR Motion Sensor and HD Rumble, impacts each of these games, while the form factor change also impacts Nintendo Labo. Other games like Mario Tennis Aces and Snipperclips face restrictions, the former lacking the swinging motion control option, and the latter's party and battle modes being unavailable without additional controllers. Other features, such as throwing the Pokeball it Pokemon: Let's Go by motion are also impacted.

As well as the regular colorful versions of the Nintendo Switch Lite there will also be a special Pokemon edition available near the launch. The Pokemon edition features Zacian and Zamanzenta, the two legendary Pokemon from the Switch exclusive Pokemon Sword and Shield. You will be able to get your hands on a Nintendo Switch Lite for $199.99 when it launches this coming September 20th in North America, feel free to check out the video below.

About the Author

I'm Will and I'm a UK-based writer who went to film school before realizing writing was more fun than film-making. I've written for a number of gaming sites over the past few years of my writing career, including Cliqist, Gaming Respawn, and TechRaptor. I also produce videos for my own channel (Mupple) as well as Cliqists popular YouTube channel. I've covered industry events such as EGX and am hoping to break into narrative game writing in the future.